Venetian Ginger Ale

Venetian Ginger Ale is a premium small-batch soda made in Vermont, USA. Inspired by the founder’s great-great-grandfathers ginger ale of the same name. Now, updated this ginger ale is quite possibly the world’s most excellent ginger ale ever produced.
Drinking a Venetian is like listening to the perfect song on a perfect sunny day in Vermont. The perfect blend of spices and sugar to deliver a flavorful experience like no other intensifying your palette and enticing you to feel the joy of balance.
Venetian Ginger Ale’s premium taste and flavors lend themselves to marry with top-shelf liquors. Many home and professional mixologist’s skills will be exacerbated by the exciting jubilee of sorcery and character that can be evoked from blending Venetian Ginger Ale and well-oriented spirits. It is serendipitous to discover that Vermont spirits are, of course, most pleasing and undoubtedly finely united with our product.
If you’re like me, your sharp taste sensibilities patiently await experiences of heightened sensitivity as becoming one with taste, smell and texture pour over the senses.
I invite you to experience, witness and share first hand the thrill of a well-balanced beverage that was designed to bring joy and happiness to your senses.

A Renegade History

Not many soda makers were bootleggers, but hey, ginger ale makes a sweet mixer for the hard stuff.
During Prohibition, the Dorn family allegedly used their Venetian soda operation as a front for whiskey runs out of Canada for a little extra on the side. With Vermont sharing a border with Quebec, and Burlington being the first “big” city, Pine Street made for the perfect factory location and the ideal first stop before heading down to Boston, Atlantic City, and New York City.
These renegades knew how to throw a good party and hosted some of the largest underground gatherings at the time, attracting notorious names from the big cities. Some would even travel to Vermont to get in on the small-town music scene as a respite from the hustle and bustle of city living.
Who knows, maybe Al Capone himself enjoyed Venetian Ginger Ale.

The Venetian Timeline

??? – 1915

The Beginning

Michael C. Dorn, a German immigrant, begins experimenting with carbonated beverages and develops the original Venetian Ginger Ale recipe, which he begins to sell.

1917

Venetian Ginger Ale

With the increasing popularity of his new drink, Dorn begins M.&F.C. Dorn Co and builds the now-historic Pine Street Soda Plant in Burlington, Vermont to bottle Venetian Ginger Ale.

~1945

The Final Run?

After a decades of success, Dorn’s son, Frank, focused on bottling other better known brands. Following a series of family tragedies, the Venetian brand was phased out.

2017

The Reimagining

A century later, Venetian Ginger Ale is brought back to life by Michael C. Dorn’s great great grandson, Justin Bunnell, and a team of friends who love great soda and believe in the entrepreneurial spirit of the original brand.

Simple, Natural Ingredients

Like most kids, we grew up enjoying conventional, sugary soda. The world didn’t know better and our parents certainly wouldn’t have let us ingest the stuff if more information was available. But now we have the Internet, and most people are pretty savvy to the dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) and the negative health consequences of a high-sugar diet.The original Venetian Ginger Ale’s recipe was created during an era when simplicity and great flavor coexisted peacefully. Well, they say history is cyclical, and we think the world is yet again ready to embrace a soda touting subtle complexity over intense sweetness.
Here’s what’s inside: